#Thomson, Jackson ad the #HSU – Fuel My Fire « via WixxyLeaks

It’s not an average day you are mentioned in The Australian, let alone the front page.

But then again, it’s not every day that facts, presented by a part-time blogger, published on an online news source upset the strategy of a so-called union “whistleblower’ and her partner who is the second highest ranking industrial judge in the land.

One would wonder what this apparent powerhouse couple would have to worry about. After all, I am just a lowly blogger, and they are a power couple with all the might of seemingly every Liberal party connected law firm behind them working for free.

The story appeared after Craig Thomson tweeted a link to an article I wrote for Independent Australia, which is until now, the only news source I am aware of to mention any of these documents, or ask the tough questions of Ms Jackson.

Jackson’s comment regarding Craig Thomson’s tweeting of a link, and comparing that to Thomson’s please for calm from the media, is so out of touch it borders on being offensive.

“I find it particularly ironic that Mr Craig ‘Just Leave Me Alone’ Thomson is tweeting that malicious material. Clearly, one of the many qualities he lacks is a sense of hypocrisy.”

I find it delusional in the extreme to compare the clicking of a mouse button twice by Thomson, to the more than two years of media harassment of Thomson, his family and staff.

I hope someone has informed Jackson for example that to sending of a tweet does not at all compare with a television reporter lurking outside your bathroom window while your pregnant wife showers.

It would be a strange place where those two events would compare. I will refer to this place from now on as “Jacksonville”.

Jackson, refers to me as a “failed ALP candidate” often, it’s a neat throwaway line that would make a nice sound-bite if required.

Some would say this is true, I wouldn’t, but some would, and they would be correct. You see it all depends on your perspective, and your definition of failed.

I ran for the State seat of Hawkesbury in the 2011 NSW election. I was defeated by the Liberal candidate in a manner that was quite convincing, that much is for certain.

However, the seat of Hawkesbury is the safest Liberal seat in NSW, and the backlash against the ALP that year was huge. If I was to say I didn’t expect to win, it would be understating the situation, I knew it was an unwinnable seat.

The branch that I am a member of asked me to stand for the seat, and I accepted. In my view there are thousands of Labor voters in the electorate who deserve a voice. In my area, we call it “taking one for the team” and we do it proudly. By contrast, in “Jacksonville” clearly speaking out for others is a sign of failure. A strange attitude for a union official I would have thought.

Only in a place like “Jacksonville” would someone like Kathy call me a failed ALP candidate. After all, this is the woman who tried to win pre-selection to become an ALP candidate in Victoria, and lost. Then, just for another shot at humiliation, Jackson took the ALP to court to try to overturn the election result, alas she lost once again.

Does that make Jackson a failed ALP “would be” candidate?

I believe I have mentioned the pot and kettle before….

Failed Candidate?

Jackson once again alleges I am part of a Williamson “conspiracy”, and now throws in Peter Mylan as well for good measure. Once again I will state for the record that neither I, nor the editor of Independent Australia have ever met, spoken to, or had any form of correspondence with either of these men.

Next week I am half expecting Elvis to make an appearance in Jackson’s theories as they are getting wilder. Maybe Elvis is currently touring Jacksonville.

As for the evidence that Independent Australia has posted, over the eight articles on this matter, Jackson ties to explain how these documents were uncovered.

“As I will show in court, both have gone to a lot of trouble to secure them all and then have them scoured to find anything at all that can be spun or misrepresented as evidence of wrongdoing”

As I explained from the start, I have a source inside the HSU, who came to me with some of this material. I did not seek it out at all. The rest of the documents have been sent to me from other reliable sources who have approached me after the first articles were published.

In fact, it is safe to say that posting these articles have opened up a floodgate of information for people to take back control of the union from Jackson.

The most trouble I have gone to in order to receive these documents is to meet a friend for coffee. As for the rest of the documentation, all I have done is check my inbox.

In “Jacksonville” that may be regarded as “a lot of trouble”, where I’m from, it’s often referred to as a breeze…

Where we have gone to considerable trouble, however, is checking each documents authenticity, and then looking into the background of each document. As I have said before, there is much information that has not been published.

Jackson also describes the documents uncovered as “malicious”. She then goes on to try to explain some of them, particularly those regarding her employment of two of Michael Lawler’s children, thus admitting their authenticity.

The payment to Numbat Consulting of $134,524, mentioned in the article, still remains unexplained as far as I am concerned. Both myself, and Independent Australia received an email from Kerren Clark saying that the post was inaccurate.

Kerren, whom I have been told attended Monash University with Jackson, told us a couple of interesting things, one of which is mentioned in Rout’s article.

“Although I have written many articles for HSU newsletters, these do not appear over my name. I just get on with the job and let somebody else have the credit.”

I thought this statement odd, as it kind of backs up the theory that nobody knew what roles they performed, it even seems much of the alleged work was done under other people’s names??? Very strange…

Then also;

“I am willing and able to produce my records to police or administrators but I refuse to be embroiled in internecine warfare. “

The article was regarding Numbat’s refusal to co-operate with the acting General Secretary, Peter Mylan’s request for information as to the services provided by Numbat. The email sent to us seems to confirm that, saying she will only produce records for police or administrators. Also strange that she would mention administrators…

Yes, we were asked to take that down on the basis that it was wrong, however, we refused as the information is correct.

Only in “Jacksonville” would someone ask something to be taken down as incorrect via email, and then confirm its accuracy in the same email.

I spoke to The Australian’s Milanda Rout, briefly yesterday afternoon regarding this article before it was published, and she seemed to be interested in doing a fair and balanced article.

Whilst I am not thrilled about some of the article seeming to portray Jackson’s version of events in a more favourable light, after talking to Rout, I remain confident that as a professional, Milanda will look into some of the documentation provided in the interests of seeking the truth for her readers. I also sincerely thank her for looking into the story.

Some of you may be surprised that I have not done a Murdoch, News Ltd bashing post that is full of cheap shots. On the contrary, I thank Milanda for taking the trouble to contact me for my comments.

I will leave the cheap shots to those at Crikey who do not first contact those they write about, god forbid a balanced article….

I would also, once again, like to thank Kathy Jackson. By continuing down her arrogant and predictable path of shooting the messenger, and smearing the source rather than explain the facts and answer the questions, you highlight our credibility, and continue to fuel our fire.

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Former President of the Fire Brigade Employees’ Union (2009-2018) and a professional firefighter with more than 25 years’ experience. I live and work on the NSW South Coast, Australia.
I am a strong advocate for firefighters and emergency service workers with an interest in mental health issues and caring for those around me. I am a Director on the NSW Fire Brigades Death and Disability Super Fund and work with charities including ‘The Movember Foundation’.
As a leader and activist I have long been active in the campaign for action on climate change. I am a Station Commander in the fire and rescue service in NSW and have 30 years experience fighting fires, both rural and urban. I am passionate about highlighting the impact climate change is having on fire preparedness and fire behaviour in Australia, and the risks associated with inaction on climate change. I am also a spokesperson for the Australian Climate Media Centre.